Archive for the ‘Archives’ Category:
GROUNDWATER VS. GROUND WATER
Everyone knows that “groundwater” is water that exists beneath the surface of the Earth in soils, porous geologic materials, and aquifers. What many people are not aware of is the debate that a raged for years within the environmental consulting arena. Finally the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has settled this issue once and for all: groundwater is one word. The official announcment from USGS is presented below:
March 26, 2009
OFFICE OF GROUNDWATER TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM 2009.03
Sunject: GROUNDWATER: Ground water vs. groundwater
It has been a longstanding practice within the USGS to spell ground water as two words and to hyphenate when ground water is used as a modifier (e.g., ground-water hydrology). Ground Water Branch Technical Memorandum 75.03 issued just under 35 years ago specified that the two-word form should be used. (http://water.usgs.gov/admin/memo/GW/gw75.03.html)
Language evolves, and it is clear that the one-word spelling of groundwater has become the preferred usage both nationally and internationally. The one-word spelling has been used by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary since 1998. Most water-resources publications also use the one-word spelling, as do many technical groups, such as the National Research Council. With the emphasis on interdisciplinary science, many USGS scientists who are not specialists in the field commonly use the one-word form, as increasingly do many hydrologists within the Water Resources Discipline.
The term surface water has not seen the same language simplification that has occurred with the term “groundwater”. “Surface water” continues in the English language universally spelled as two words. Use of the two terms together spelled as “groundwater and surface water” has become common usage.
With this memorandum, we are making a transition to the use of groundwater as one word in USGS. Changeover to use of the one-word spelling in our publications and web sites will be accomplished as seamlessly as possible. Reports in preparation should be converted to the one-word spelling where this does not require a special effort. Reports submitted for approval after August 1, 2009, will be expected to use the one-word form. During this transition period, the one-word or two-word spelling should be used consistently throughout a publication.
This memorandum supercedes Ground Water Branch Technical Memorandum No. 75.03
EPA’s Rule For “All Appropriate Inquiry” for Commercial Property Transactions
On November 1, 2006 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s much-anticipated “All Appropriate Inquiries” rule establishing mandatory requirements for assessing commercial real estate for environmental contamination became effective. An environmental investigation known as a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is the minimum level environmental “due diligence” for any buyer, investor, or lender of commercial real estate that has the potential to be contaminated by hazardous substances or petroleum products.
The reason for conducting a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is to qualify for cleanup liability protections against the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Under CERCLA an owner of environmentally impaired commercial real estate can be held financially liable for all cleanup costs at the property even if they did not know of, cause or contribute to the contamination. Cleanup costs associated with contaminated real property often exceed the value of the property. Many property owners, faced with the extremely high cleanup costs at these sites, default on their loans. A properly conducted pre-acquisition Phase I Environmental Site Assessment provides a significant degree of protection from CERCLA liability for lenders, prospective purchasers of the property, and investors.
The “All Appropriate Inquiries” rule was mandated by the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 (Brownfields Amendments). Congress recognized a need to protect businesses involved in real property acquisitions from CERCLA liability. The Brownfields Amendments added two new cleanup liability protections to CERCLA; the Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser and Contiguous Property Owner protections. An Innocent Landowner liability defense already existed in the CERCLA statute. Congress required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish “standards and practices for the purpose of satisfying the requirement to carry out all appropriate inquires into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial or customary practice”.
The EPA rule allows lenders, borrowers, investors, and others to secure cleanup liability protection if they conduct a pre-acquisition Phase I Environmental Site Assessment that follows the All Appropriate Inquires rule or the American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM E 1527-05 standard. Purchasers of commercial real estate can no longer establish protection against CERCLA cleanup liability by conducting the ASTM Transaction Screen (checklist) analysis (ASTM E 1528-06).
All Appropriate Inquiries and ASTM E 1527-05 Environmental Professional Requirements
Under both the All Appropriate Inquiry rule and the ASTM Phase I standard, only an environmental professional (EP) meeting stringent requirements for education, experience, and registration/certification can conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment/All Appropriate Inquiries investigation. EPA requires that environmental professionals are competent environmental consultants who have a sufficient degree of expertise to render opinions and conclusions regarding “releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances” or about the potential for contaminants migrating from neighboring properties.
Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Liability Protection
The CERCLA rule also provides liability protection for business entities and persons that qualify as Bona Fide Prospective Purchasers. Rather than acquiring direct cleanup liability costs for environmentally impaired real estate, EPA can only impose a windfall lien on the contaminated property for the increase in fair market value that results from any site cleanup conducted at EPA’s expense at the property.
For the first time, a person or business entity qualifying as a Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser may acquire commercial real estate with knowledge of contamination after conducting a pre-acquisition Phase I Environmental Site Assessment and not incur CERCLA liability for cleanup costs.
Contiguous Property Owner Liability Protection
CERCLA provides protection for businesses and persons that qualify as Contiguous Property Owners. A Contiguous Property Owner is “A person that owns real property that is contiguous to or similarly situated with respect to, and that is or may be contaminated by a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance from, real property that is not owned by that person shall not be considered to be liable under CERCLA for cleanup of the owned property”.
A requirement for a Contiguous Property Owner to secure protection from CERCLA liability is that “at the time the person acquired the property, the person…conducted All Appropriate Inquiry…and did not know or have reason to know that the property was or could be contaminated by a release or threatened release of one or more hazardous substances from other real property not owned or operated by the person”.
If you would like more information regarding All Appropriate Inquires and the new ASTM E 1527-05 please contact: Will Davis, REA, Davis Environmental at 707.367-0398 or Email ehsservices@sbcglobal.net.
THE REGISTERED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSOR (REA)
The following information is extracted from the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) Registered Environmental Assessor website. If you buy, sell, lend, manage, or own commercial real estate or industrial property, the following information can assist you in these endeavors.
PROTECTING YOUR INTEREST
Failure to perform adequate or appropriate environmental assessment may subject you to major liability. The “innocent landowner” defense under State and federal Superfund laws requires that the purchaser perform an assessment using “all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial or customary practices…” (40 CFR Part 312).
A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is an environmental investigation conducted prior to purchasing commercial or industrial real property. A pre-acquisition Phase I can identify the likelihood that hazardous materials, substances or wastes may have been used on, or may have contaminated, a property. A Phase I report will provide the purchasers and lenders with documentation of environmental due diligence and. Without conducting appropriate environmental due diligence prior to acquiring a property, you may be subject to financial liability to cleanup contamination on the property.
WHY YOU SHOULD USE A REGISTERED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSOR
Paraphrasing residential real estate’s mantra, the environmental assessment mantra is: “liability, liability, liability”.
The environmental consulting arena in California is populated by many consultants, engineers, geologists and other professionals all providing various services. Many possess the knowledge and experience to protect you and your clients from environmental liability. However, some may not.
The state has evaluated the experience and credentials of each Registered Environmental Assessor (REA) applicant and verified that he or she is qualified to conduct environmental assessments.
To limit liability for you and your client, you should have a qualified environmental professional assess property before transfers, urban redevelopment “brownfields” projects, or for property environmental testing or site cleanup.
Your Dilemma: You need a capable professional with verified qualifications.
The Registered Environmental Assessor Program (REA) can help you find an environmental professional registered by the State who can perform your environmental work. The Program is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). It registers environmental compliance experts on a voluntary basis. Its motto is, “Serving California by identifying and registering qualified environmental professionals.”
The REA program is a State resource to assist you in finding licensed environmental professionals as you contract for environmental services. The REA Program maintains a directory of qualified REA registrants with contact information for professionals in your area. Information regarding each registrant is maintained in a database.
For more information contact the REA Hotline at (916) 255-4699 or online at http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/rea.
Excerpted by Will Davis, REA.
Environmental, Health and Safety Services
Welcome to our website. Many of you may be unfamiliar with Davis Environmental Services so please allow me to introduce myself and Davis Environmental Services.
My name is Will Davis, I am the senior environmental professional with Davis Environmental Services. I have almost twenty years of expertise in environmental and occupational safety management.
Davis Environmental Services is an environmental consulting company based in Lakeport, California. We specialize in providing high quality Phase I Environmental Site Assessments in addition to a number of other environmental services including industrial hygiene surveys, employee training, environmental and safety program development and implementation, hazardous materials management, environmental and Cal/OSHA compliance audits, environmental monitoring, and indoor air quality investigations.
Davis Environmental Services team of environmental professionals includes Registered Environmental Assessors (REAs), Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs), geologists, safety professionals, risk managers, and trained environmental auditors.
Our clients include Federal, state, and local government agencies, international development companies, realtors, business owners, land developers, non-profit organizations, and cities.
We are proud to offer professional services that can reduce your liability, minimize costs, and successfully resolve your environmental challenges.
If you would like further information regarding our environmental and safety services, and how we can assist you in meeting your environmental and safety challenges, please contact Davis Environmental Services by clicking on the “contact” button on the left of the screen.